The Balcony
The Balcony is the fourteenth level in Orcs Must Die!. The Ice Amulet is introduced here. Stage Description It's a long hallway with a single gate at the top. After passing a wooden bridge overhanging a lava lake, mobs will pass through a tall archway leading into the fortress proper barely two squares wide. Consequently, ground threats aren't your main concern; most of the enemies encountered will be in the form of Hellbats and Fire Babies. Stairways at each side of the hallway lead to an upper level seperated from the main orc path, leading to bridges high above the hallway and ledges jutting out from each side. You start off with Two Guardian Archers overlooking their own ledges and a Paladin by the rift. Mob Waves (War Mage) Enemies Encountered: Orc Warriors, Shield Orcs, Kobold Runners, Hellbats, Fire Babies, Gnoll Hunters and Ogres 1. Hellbats, Fire Babies 2. Hellbats, Warrior Orcs 3. Kobold Runners, Gnoll Hunter, Hellbats Go Break 4. Warrior Orcs, Hellbats, Warrior Orcs, Hellbats, Fire Babies, Hellbats, Fire Babies 5. Hellbats, Ogre 6. Shield Orcs & Hellbats, Kobold Runners, Fire Babies & Hellbats Go Break 7. 2x Gnoll Hunter, Hellbats & Fire Babies 8. Kobold Runners, Fire Babies 9. Shield Orcs & Hellbats, Fire Babies, Ogre, Hellbats, Fire Babies Walkthrough (War Mage) There isn't much difference between strategies considering this is a straight shooting map against flying enemies. Use your new Ice Amulet against Hellbats; the trick is to shoot just ahead of them. Drop the Fire Babies with one shot from your crossbow. Archers are heavily recommended: with enough of them (12+), the fliers go down quickly enough for you to concentrate on the already middling ground threat. With Steel Weaver Select Crossbow, Wind Belt, Blade Staff, Ice Amulet, Spring Trap, Wall Blades, Tar Trap, Elf Archer. Start off with the Death Augmenter upgrade and five archers off the first elevated bridge. Place spring traps by the gate, working your way towards the arches; use tar traps between the arches and add two more behind them as insurance against runaway kobold runners. Keep wind blasting orcs back into the spring traps and freeze N' shatter that gnoll hunter before you get distracted. At the first break, add wall blades between the arches and two more above them: they fillet flyers as well as orcs. Go for the Overcoiled Springs upgrade so as to make a mockery of the incoming Ogre. At the second break, add a lot more archers. Try to fill the bridge with archers, then add more archers under the bridge. Take the Burning Pitch upgrade to maximize their effectiveness. With Elemental Weaver Select Crossbow, Wind Belt, Blade Staff, Ice Amulet, Barricade, Push Trap, Tar Trap, Elf Archer. Take Mana Conservation right away. For wave 2, place push traps with tar traps between the arches and a barricade behind a tar trap. Place yourself behind the barricade and shove all those assembled orcs into the lava after taking the Icy Winds upgrade. Add more tar traps on the bridge. On your first break, fill the bridge and the space underneath the bridge with archers. Add more archers on the ledges along with your starting archers. Aim for the Charged Weapons upgrade when you can. Mob Waves (Nightmare) 1. Hellbats, Fire Babies 2. Shield Orcs 3. Kobold Runners, Hellbats, Gnoll Hunter, Hellbats 4. (Shield Orcs, Hellbats, Fire Babies) x2, Kobold Runners, (Hellbats, Fire Babies) x2, Kobold Runners 5. Hellbats, Ogre, Hellbats 6. Shield Orcs, Hellbats, Kobold Runners, (Hellbats, Firebabies) x3 7. Gnoll Hunter x2, Hellbats, Kobold Runners, Fire Babies, Hellbats, Fire Babies 8. Kobold Runners, Fire Babies x2 9. Shield Orcs, Hellbats, Ogre, Hellbats, Kobold Runners, Fire Babies, Kobold Runners Walkthrough (Nightmare) Shooting flying mobs is mostly the same between War Mage difficulty and Nightmare difficulty, except this time you have the Lightning Ring's lightning bolts to kill off multiple fire babies at a time. With Knowledge Weaver Select Crossbow, Wind Belt, Blade Staff, Ice Amulet, Lightning Ring, Elf Archer, Tar Trap, Brimstone, Wall Blades and Spore Mushrooms. Obviously the Spell Magnification upgrade makes this map a breeze. Try to have your spells earn as much money on wave 1 and invest all that in archers for the bridge above you and archers on the ground past the steps leading to said bridge. Place Tar Traps on the bridge and brimstones between the arches and on the narrower parts of the long hallway if kobolds are slipping past you. At this point, the wall blades are just additional insurrance: flyers will be more dangerous than orcs so build those traps high and work your way down. When orcs come by, drop a lightning storm on the bridge and wind blast the orcs back into it. Add archers when possible but keep money open for spore mushrooms. Converted ogres draw enemy fire like crazy so it's preferable to sell off spore mushrooms as soon as the ogre is dead. With Steel Weaver Select Crossbow, Wind Belt, Blade Staff, Ice Amulet, Lightning Ring, Tar Trap, Elf Archer, Spring Trap, Wall Blades and Brimstone Begin with the the Death Augmentator upgrade and archers on the bridge. For the orcs, set your spring traps by the gate and add more, working your way towards the arches; throwing wind blasts from between the arches for massive kill streaks. Place tar traps and wall blades between the arches for added insurrance. Get Overcoiled Springs first so as to turn your ogre encounters into a cinch, then add more archers and gain the Burning Pitch to utterly destroy flyers. Rows of brimstones spread out down the hallway makes for a great safety net against runaway kobolds. With Elemental Weaver Select Crossbow, Wind Belt, Blade Staff, Ice Amulet, Lightning Ring, Tar Trap, Autoballista, Barricade, Push Trap and Spore Mushrooms As with the Elemental Weaver-War Mage strategy, gain the Icy Winds upgrade and place tar traps on the bridge, push traps between the arches along with a single barricade behind the opening between arches. Wind Blast orcs into the lava from behind the barricade for massive killstreaks. Use the Firestorm upgrade to extend your killstreaks off of lightning bolts. Converted ogres have their use here, as damage soakers towards enemy air fire. On the other hand, if you've bought the Artifacts of Power DLC, the Vampiric Gauntlets are highly recommended. You can also fight your way on the bridge itself along with your pet ogre, using the ice nova to slay flyers as you freeze ground based enemies. All the upgrades are good: Blinding Stun allows for greater masses of orcs on the bridge, the health bonus from Adrenaline Rush is certainly welcome when you're being pelted on by flyers and of course Charged Weapons practically makes you invincible on the bridge. Since we're aiming for longer killstreaks off of small fire babies and lightning bolts, I thought of autoballistas to shoot down hellbats in one great salvo. Set them up underneath the bridge. Category:Orcs Must Die!